Two sisters, two teams, one hug: Sammy and Ani Leu’s unique state tournament experience

The Leu family’s day began with coffee, donuts and a box of cold medicine.

Ani, a freshman at Lincoln North Star, woke up Wednesday morning with a slight cold — not exactly ideal ahead of the opening game of the state basketball tournament.

Rebecca and Jason Leu are no strangers to the busy life of basketball parents, having shuttled daughters Sammy and Ani to practices, games and tournaments for at least the last 10 years. However, they’d never been through anything like what Wednesday had to offer.

Despite Ani’s need for cold medicine, the Leus were determined to make their first stop of the day on time — Wahoo’s state tournament sendoff. Sammy, a senior at Wahoo, perhaps could’ve been Ani’s teammate on this year’s North Star team.

But a desire to be part of a smaller school led Sammy to Wahoo, and eventually the state tournament.

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“As they were growing up and playing, we envisioned them playing for the same school and we were really looking forward to that,” Rebecca said. “We realized as they got older that we just wanted the path that was best for both of them, and it’s worked out great.”

Simply getting to this point was no guarantee for both sisters and their teams. Heading into her senior year, Sammy had two clear goals — reaching 1,000 career points and securing the elusive trip to state. Sammy scored her 1,000th point Feb. 10, then helped the team to the state tournament two weeks later.

Wahoo’s Sammy Leu (22) jogs onto the court ahead of Wednesday’s Class C-1 game against Malcolm.

LARRY ROBINSON, Journal Star

As Jason and a large cheering section took in Wahoo’s win against Battle Creek in districts, Rebecca watched North Star secure an upset of Lincoln Pius X. It’s hard to say that either gave their full attention — Rebecca’s eyes were also glued to a livestream of the Wahoo game and vice-versa for the family members cheering on North Star from afar.

Not only did Ani sink the game-winning three-pointer for the Gators, but she also ended the game with a steal that put her into the state tournament in her first year of varsity basketball.

“Honestly, I didn’t think we were going to get here,” she said. “A lot of hard work paid off.”

The Leus arrived at the Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday sporting Wahoo sweat shirts, with their North Star gear in the car so they didn’t have to run home. Ani was supposed to be at school, but how could a coach say no to letting her cheer on older sister?

“She’s definitely one of my biggest role models; I look up to her a lot,” Ani said of her relationship with Sammy.

The reasons for that admiration were on display in Wahoo’s opening-round contest against Malcolm. Sammy took Wahoo’s first shot, scoring within 30 seconds. She was comfortable against the Clippers’ full-court press.

With Wahoo trailing by eight points in the second quarter, Sammy uncorked a three-pointer that brought a sigh of relief from the Warrior fans. She made another in both the third and fourth quarters, part of her team-high 14 points.

Late in the game, an attempted defensive stop turned into Sammy’s fifth foul of the game. Having played every single minute of the game, the walk back to the bench was a painful one.

As the Malcolm fans roared and as her teammates desperately tried to steal the ball, she was numb to it all. Her head was in her hands, as her high school career ended and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Afterward, Jason reminded Sammy that she’d already had a better career than he ever did — he fouled out in his last high school game, too.

But Sammy wasn’t just interested in what her parents had to say.

“Where’s Ani?” she asked.

The sisters shared a long hug, not saying much — perhaps because they didn’t need to.

“They were just being there for each other,” Rebecca said. “I’d never seen them like that after a game, and my heart just melted.”

The Leus grabbed a bite to eat as Ani went back to school, eager to participate in North Star’s traditional state tournament sendoff, the Gator Walk. And as morning turned into evening, the Leus traded their blue-and-yellow sweat shirts for North Star’s navy and maroon.

Playing against a veteran Millard North team, points were hard to come by for North Star. With three freshman starters, the Gators fell behind early. A three-point play by Ani helped make it a four-point game at halftime, but Millard North controlled the second half and won 54-37.

It’s not the end of the road for Sammy, who’s committed to play for Concordia. And it’s definitely not the end of the state tournament dreams in the Leu family, with three years for Ani to keep improving.

“I tell everyone that she’s going to be better than me, and I think she already is better than me,” Sammy said. “I’m just so proud of her because she’s doing what I’ve wanted to do since freshman year.”

Neither Sammy nor Ani will win a state title this year.

But for the Leus, Wednesday was something much bigger — it was a day spent as a family, celebrating everything the girls had achieved.

It was a day — and a hug — that they’ll never forget.

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